Jan Vojáček

To be fair, Bucky was excellent last season and we kept a club record number of clean sheets. It might just be that League Two is his level now. He struggled massively in the relegation year and I was actually pretty disappointed we kept him; but last year he was probably the best CB in the division (or not far off at the very least) and this year he's been the same. I still think he's got a howling performance in him. He showed that at Ochilview. Like with us last year, 90 percent of the time he's the best defender in the division. The other 10 percent he's being dragged about, conceding silly fouls and charging out of position. Durnan had an ankle problem against Spartans, then his knee flared up. He's got a knee issue that he manages, but it just comes and goes a wee bit as I understand it. But he'll be back this weekend, and should be in full training by next week. Faz is just cautious about testing him on an astro pitch first time around. Of course, you'd know all that if you sprinted down the shops at 6am yesterday to buy your Lennox Clicky

I knew you lot were very into your pastries. But I didn't realise it was so tribal Learnt my lesson on that front so now dissect it to eat. Lid off first and eaten, let it cool a bit, pick the meat chunk out, finish by eating the gravy soaked pastry. It's an art form.

I will not have this slander. Mods. Do something.

The best pies in the SPFL

Excuse me? It's a close run thing between us and Bonnyrigg for the SPFL's worst grass park - but judging by those highlights they may just shade it and claim the crown we won last year.

I've used the 'I'd be quite happy for it to hit someone's arse and fly in if that's what it takes' line quite a lot. But I'm not sure if ever actually seen it happen.

Just 468 today seems like a huge drop in attendance at NDP? Any reason for that or just the vile weather and lack of cover?

Bucky got it stinking from our fans when he turned in a horror show at Ochilview in August. I've absolutely no issue with him giving a bit back today. It's a two way thing, and if we're going to give it out then we have to be big enough to take it back.

I don't think I can add a great deal really to what @Nigel Blackwellsays above. We had our spell at the start of the game, and Stenny had a really good spell midway through the second-half where Brett Long twice made good saves to keep the scores level. For the final 10 minutes or so it did feel like the Warriors were the team in the ascendency - but I felt the only way either side were going to score was either a bit of luck/mistake or a moment of brilliance. And it was the former. It does absolutely highlight that if you don't shoot, you won't score though. And today that's probably the only real complaint I can have with us. We played some nice stuff, but took far too many touches around the box - allowing Stenhousemuir to regroup and comfortably deal with the danger. Ryan Wallace's header early on that was well saved by Darren Jamieson was one of all too few occasions where we moved the ball quickly and with minimal touches. That being said, I genuinely couldn't fault too much of our play today. The players put in a terrific effort in vile conditions, and losing the game in that fashion was harsh on them. I was worried about how Aron Lynas would do against Matty Aitken, but he was largely marshalled well - we dragged him into a scrap, which is something we did when he faced us with Forfar Athletic last season. And I just don't think physical battles are where his major strengths are. Despite his size. Stenhousemuir's showing today though was as good as I've seen from any side against us in the league. They were all over the place for the first 20 minutes, but when we failed to take advantage the rest of the game was a textbook away performance. They gave up possession and challenged us to try and break them down. Which we couldn't find a way to do. Gregor Buchanan was absolutely excellent (as he is 90% of the time in this division) and Nicky Jamieson recovered from a rocky start to put in an equally as solid performance. It's not hard at all to see why Stenny have so many clean sheets with the two Jamiesons and Buchanan back there. What really impressed me about them was their speed on the break. Ross Taylor is an absolute nightmare when he's running at pace. He didn't have much joy when we got tight with him, but give him a yard or so and he'll make you look daft. Matty Yates was at the heart of everything that was good about them, and Euan O'Reilly was a constant threat down the left. Today felt like a really sore one. And it's undeniably a bit dent in our title hopes. There's a lot of football to be played, but it's already a big ask for us to make up the points gap we face.

Coverage is far better since one of the commentators retired and the other signed for the Warriors imo.

Duncan Williams the referee tomorrow. Wonder if he'll be in the mood he was in at Ochilview and booking players every time they touch the ball after his whistle. Or the mood he was in a fortnight later when he let Stefan McCluskey boot the ball out the ground three times before he earned a booking. Either way, I hope Faz has drilled it into our players to avoid any daft bookings for anything like that.

I think so? I feel like my phone was connected to it last time I was down.

Even better. They get the chequebook out for me and I'm already automatically connected to the wifi.

If some free-spending village team with about 16 fans want me to come and write about them for big bucks then I'll be off like a shot

Low tide being at 15:36 on Saturday might help us a bit. But I'd already imagine this will be in doubt. Mind you. With the amount of sand on the pitch maybe it'll all be soaked up into a nice, spongey porridge.

Popped onto the Edinburgh City thread for a wee look after their finance troubles became clear yesterday, and saw this about a certain Rusty McLean... I find his drop off absolutely staggering since the end of the 2021-22 season. He was always a bit of an enigma, and he's never really been consistent, but his goal record speaks for itself. And he had some terrific games against us for Montrose and Peterhead. When he signed for us in January (aye, it was January of this year, seems a lifetime ago) we were getting a 24-year-old forward who had already scored more than 50 senior goals in just over 150 senior games. That's a terrific pedigree. Even now he has 42 goals in 89 SPFL starts. That's a record few players we've had recently can get near. I genuinely believed he would be the missing link in our team and would fire us to promotion when we brought him in. From what I saw of him at Montrose and Peterhead he was the type of forward we'd been crying out for, for years. Yet he only ever looked good for about 20 minutes in a Sons shirt. And that seems to have continued in the capital. I don't know if it's the injury, a loss of confidence, a loss of appetite for the game or what. But I can't get my head around how quickly he's gone from handy League One goalscorer in a playoff chasing Montrose team (and very capable Peterhead team with Brett Long, Scott Brown et al) to a complete jobber who has barely had an impact on a match in two years.

He goes to the same barber as me. I'll scope out any potential signing gossip for you next time I'm in

I don't remember the last time I was this excited/nervous for a game on a Monday. It sounds daft to say so early in the season, but I don't know if we can afford to lose this one. Then we'd be reliant on Stenny replicating our second-half of last season. We looked like scoring every single time we went forward in the last game. But we'll play a completely different side and in a completely different shape this time around. We're at our best down the wings imo, and I'd fancy us to be able to get at those Stenny full-backs a wee bit with Carlo and Kalvin and Shiels and T.Wallace. If we turn up and play as well as we have done in recent weeks then I'm very confident we'll get a result. How could I not be after scoring five down at Galabank? But I still don't fully trust this team. Especially in the opening minutes of a game, where we have a tendency to be half asleep until Brett Long has made a good save. What I did like about Galabank though was the confidence and belief the players showed after going behind twice. There was no panic, just a continuation of the good work and a belief that we had the quality to score. That's something I've not seen in a Dumbarton team since the Dom Thomas-era. Brett Long Carlo Pignatiello Sean Crighton Mark Durnan Matty Shiels Kalvin Orsi Blair Malcolm Finlay Gray Tony Wallace Ryan Wallace Michael Ruth It's actually a bit harsh on a few who came off the bench and performed well at Galabank. But they are nice options to have; Jinky Hilton especially is the perfect replacement in the Ryan Wallace-role when his customary 74th minute substitution arrives. Both sides are flying, and on paper there's very little between them, both with 5/5 records - Stenny have conceded one less goal and scored three more than us all season, albeit in one more game. Ross Taylor has caused us more problems than anyone else this year, so it'll be interesting to see how he does up against Carlo Pignatiello. Likewise I'm expecting a fairly breathless battle on the other side between Euan O'Reilly and Matty Shiels. Hopefully there's a good turnout in the home end. The Elgin game actually felt busier than I was expecting, and it would nice for this to feel like as big a game as it is.

Joe Hart The man is 6'6 and couldn't catch a ball in his six yard box as the only bloke allowed to use his hands.

Strikers are a weird bunch. Kevin Nisbet didn't score a single goal for us, and we were linked with Lawrence Shankland but signed Greg Morrison on loan from Ross County instead. Two things I think about all the time. By the same token, Jim Lister was fairly garbage for Alloa and Brechin. We signed him for the Championship and he was a revelation. You just never really know when they're going to click. I genuinely think confidence is all that separates a guy from Aitken having this season versus the season he had last year. He won't have changed as a player. It's possibly the case with our very own Michael Ruth too. Barely scored a goal in his career, but now looks a big threat. At the start of the season he couldn't buy a goal. He's not doing anything different now to what he did in July and August and he's scoring regularly.

I looked at the stats at half-time and instantly knew this game finished 1-1.

It's somewhat ironic that, if Forfar Athletic had a striker like this Matthew Aitken geezer, then they'd probably be in the top four. Fair play. I didn't fancy him at all last season, but Gary Naysmith has clearly unlocked something in him. I was writing up the programme for next week and didn't realise how good his record is in the league this season. I also discovered we have exactly the same birthday, which has instantly made me warm to him.

Aye that's not a great look for whoever at Peterhead decided the pitch was probably playable this morning. Only for a second opinion to presumably be sought when someone else turned up. We had our own shambolic situation with the Binos games last season. But at least they are only 45 minutes along the road. A wee bit different in this situation, especially when it wasn't a sudden freak downpour at the last minute like we had with the Stirling game. The conditions have been forecast all week and the park won't have changed much between 8am and 11am. Balmoor on a Tuesday night. That's one that will separate the men from the boys.

Courtesy of The Blue Toon Podcast.

Having been told first thing this morning that we're all good. I'm now told that there will be an inspection at 11.15. But that Peterhead are "confident the pitch is playable." Not bad for those of us who live close enough to leave at half 11 and get there on time. Very bad for the folk who left about an hour ago...